Pipe fitting closure

ABSTRACT

A waste disposal system for a boat equipped with a head and a waste-holding tank for receiving sewage therefrom. A dual deck fitting and associated equipment permits conventional dockside pumpout of the holding tank and also permits overboard dump of the contents of the tank. The dual deck fitting is provided with a pair of plugs, one of which embodies a pivotable handle which facilitates threading and unthreading of the plug in the deck fitting and also a lug which engages a slot in the other plug to facilitate threading and unthreading of the latter plug in the deck fitting.

12 1 Mute States atent' 1191 1111 3,870,084 Gezari 5] Mar. 11, 1975 [5PIPE FITTING CLOSURE 2,646,704 7/1953 Reider 81/31 0 v Inventor: WalterA. Gezari, ng o h, 2,728 483 12/1955 Smolen 2-0/39 R g PrimaryExaminer-Jerry W. Myracle [73] Assignee: ilnternational Telephone andAttorney, Agent, or FirmThomas L. Peterson Telegraph Corporation, NewYork, NY. [57] ABSTRACT [22] Filed; De 15, 1972 A waste disposal systemfor a boat equipped with a head and a waste-holding tank for receivingsewage [211 App! therefrom. A dual deck fitting and associated equipmentpermits conventional dockside pumpout 0f the 521 US. Cl. 138/89 holdingtank and also permits overboard p of the 51 Int. Cl. F16! 55/00 contentsof the tank- The dual deck fitting is provided [58] Field of Search138/89; 81/3.l c; with a p of p g one of which embodies a p 220/39 Rable handle which facilitates threading and unthreadt of the plug in thedeck fitting and also a lug which [56] References Cit d engages a slotin the other plug to facilitate threading UNITED STATES PATENTS andunthreading of the latter plug in the deck fitting.

623.029 4/1899 McCollum 138/89 x 5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PAIEN MARI1 I975 HOLD/N6 5 TANK BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of theInvention This invention relates generally to a waste disposal systemfor boats and, more particularly, to a novel waste disposal system whichpermits both conventional dockside pumpout of a waste holding tank andoverboard dump of the contents of the tank.

2. Description of the Prior Art Recently, laws have been promulgatedwhich prohibit the discharge of sewage and other waste materials throughthe hull of a vessel inside the l2-mile limit from shore. Pursuant tothese laws, vessels may not be provided with a conduit or fitting in thehull which connects to a waste holding tank. Present vessels do,however, have a deck fitting which permits communication with theholding tank whereby the tank may be pumped out when the vessel is inport. Present deck fittings and associated equipment cannot be convertedto an overboard dump when the vessel is outside the l2-mile limit. Thus,what is desired and constitutes the principal object of the presentinvention is a waste disposal system which permits conventional docksidepumpout of a holding tank as well as overboard dump of the contents ofthe tank.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the principal aspect of thepresent invention, there is provided a waste disposal system for a boathaving a head and a waste-holding tank for receiving sewage from thehead. The system includes a dual deck fitting which is mounted in anaperture in the boat deck. The fitting is formed with two pairs of inletand outlet ports, one pair being larger than the second pair. A conduitconnects the waste holding tank to the larger inlet port. The inlet ofan outboard pump is connected to a T-fitting in the first conduit andthe outlet of the pump is connected to the smaller inlet port of thedual deck fitting. Plugs are mounted in the outlet ports of the deckfitting to close the same. When conventional dockside pumpout of theholding tank is desired, the larger plug in the dual deck fitting isremoved and a conduit is connected between the larger outlet port and adockside pump for removing sewage from the holding tank. When it isdesired to dump the contents of the tank overboard at sea, the smallerdiameter plug is removed from the fitting, a hose is connected in placeof such plug, and the onboard pump is energized.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the larger plug ofthe above-described deck fitting is provided with a pivotable handlewhich is adapted to be raised from a normal horizontal position to avertical position to facilitate threading and unthreading of the plug inits respective outlet port. The plug is also provided with a lug whichis engageable in a slot in the upper surface of the smaller plug tofacilitate the threading and unthreading of the smaller plug in itsoutlet port. Thus, no special tools are required for removing the plugsfrom the deck fitting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration ofa boat equipped with a waste disposal system according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the dual deck fitting utilized in the wastedisposal system of the invention;

2 FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;and FIG. 4 is a top plan view ofthe larger plug of the dec fitting withthe pivoted handles removed therefrom.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawing indetail, there is illustrated in FIG. 1 a pleasure boat, generallydesignated 10, which may be of any suitable type and is here illustratedas being a cabin cruiser. The boat is provided with a head or toilet 12which is connected through a conduit 14 to a waste holding tank 15. Adual deck fitting 16 is mounted through an aperture 18 in the boat deck20.

As best seen in FIG. 3, the deck fitting 16 is a molded plastic bodyhaving large and small diameter downwardly depending cylindricalsections 22 and 24, respectively, and a peripheral flange 26. As seen inFIG. 2, the flange is provided with three apertures 28 through whichscrews, not shown, pass for mounting the fitting 16 on the boat deck. Aninternally threaded metallic insert 30 is mounted within the bore 32 ofthe larger cylindrical section 22. The insert is molded in place whenthe body of the deck fitting 16 is formed. The upper end 34 of theinsert is coplanar with the bottom 36 of a recess 38 formed in the uppersurface 40 of the fitting. The bottom of the insert 30 is coplanar withthe bottom 42 of the cylindrical section 22 of the fitting body. Aplastic hose-coupling member 44 is fixed to the bottom 42 of the bodysection 22 by ultrasonic welding or the like. The coupling member 44embodies a downwardly depending neck 46 which is formed on its outersurface with annular barbs 48 for retaining a flexible hose (not shownin FIG. 3) which is forced onto the neck.

The smaller diameter section 24 of the fitting 10 is provided with ametallic insert and a hose coupling member, as well as otherconstructional features which are identical in all respects to thatprovided for in the cylindrical section 22 of the fitting except that inthe section 24, the various parts and openings are of smaller diameter.When reference is made hereinafter in this specification to the variousparts of the cylindrical section 24 of the fitting, the same referencenumerals employed in connection with the parts in the cylindricalsection 22 will be used with the identifying suffix a added.

A plug 50 is mounted in the large diameter section 22 of the fitting.The plug comprises a cylindrical body portion 52 which is externallythreaded to engage the internally threaded insert 30. An outwardlyextending flange 54 is formed on the plug which rests on the uppersurface of the insert 30 when the plug is fully threaded into theinsert. At this instance, the upper surface 56 of the plug will be flushor coplanar with top surface 40 for the fitting. An O-ring 58 mounted inan annular groove 60 at the outer surface of the flange 54 provides aseal between the upper portion of the plug and the cylindrical wall ofthe recess 38. This seal is effective upon initial threading of the pluginto the fitting so that a seal is provided even though the plug is notfully tightened down into the fitting.

As best seen in FIG. 4, an elongated recess 62 is formed in the uppersurface of the plug 50. This recess includes a pair of parallel flatsides 64 and circular ends 66. A laterally extending channel 68 formedin the bottom of the recess extends from the opposite fiat sides 64thereof. A pair of pivot pins 70 extend transversely of the elongatedrecess 62 over the channel 68 and are retained in passages 72 formed inthe sides of the plug 50. The pins are positioned relatively close tothe transverse center line 74 passing through the center of the plugnormal to the sides 64 of the recess. A pair of flat tabs 76 arepositioned in the recess 62 in side-by-side relation with theirjuxtaposed surfaces 78 lying parallel and slightly spaced from thecenter line 74 of the plug. The tabs are pivotably mounted on the pins70. Springs 80 carried by the pins 70 urge the tabs to a downwardposition in the recess 72 wherein the upper surfaces 82 of the tabs arecoplanar with the upper surface 40 of the fitting body thereby providinga low profile fitting which will not interfere with movement ofpersonnel on the boat deck.

The opposed ends 84 of the tabs 76 are each formed with an upperoutwardly extending peripheral lip 86. Depressions 88 are formed in theupper surface plug 50 adjacent the circular ends 66 of the recess 62.Thus, a user may insert his finger into the depressions to engage underthe lips 86 and lift the tabs 82 to a vertical position, as shown inphantom lines in FIG. 3. In this position, the tabs provide a handle forrotating the plug in the fitting 16.

A small plug 90 is threaded in the metal insert 30a in the smalldiameter section 24 of the fitting. The outer configuration of this plugis similar to the plug 50. An elongated slot 92 is formed in the uppersurface 94 of the plug 90 which is adapted to receive a complementaryshaped lug 96 which is formed on the bottom of the plug 50. Thus, whenthe plug 50 is removed from the section 22 of the fitting, the lug 96 onthe plug may be inserted into the slot 92 of the smaller plug 90 andused as a tool to thread or unthread the'latter plug in the smallercylindrical section 24 of the fitting. It will be further appreciatedthat the neck 46 and bore 32 of the larger section 22 of the fittingprovide a first pair of inlet and outlet ports while the neck 46a andbore 30:: is the cylindrical section 24 of the fitting provides asecond, but smaller, pair of inlet and outlet ports, the outlet ports ofthe two sections being normally cosed by the plugs 50 and 90,respectively.

Referring again to FIG. 1 of the drawings, it is seen that a conduit 100connects the holding tank to the inlet port 46 of the fitting 16. AT-fitting 102 is mounted in the conduit 100. The base 104 of the T-fitting is connected by means of a conduit 106 to the inlet ofa pump108. Preferably, the pump 108 is a macerator pump which grinds wastedown to small particle size. The outlet of the pump 108 is connected viaconduit 110 to the inlet port 46a of the fitting 16.

When it is desired to evacuate the contents of the holding tank 15 to adockside tank, the plug 50 is removed from the fitting 16 and a hose 112is connected at one end to the outlet port 30 of the fitting, and theother end of the hose is connected to a dockside pump 114. Energizationof the pump 114 will remove waste from the holding tank 16 to thedockside tank, not shown.

When it is desired to dump the contents of the holding tank 15 overboardat sea, the plug 50 is removed from the fitting 16 and used as a tool toremove the smaller plug 90. Thereafter, the larger plut 50 is replacedin the fitting and a hose, not shown, is connected in place of thesmaller diameter plug 90. The pump 108 is then energized to withdraw thecontents of the holding tank 15 through the conduits 106 and outwardlythrough the hose which extends overboard.

Thus, it is seen by the present invention there is provided a novel deckfitting and associated equipment which permits conventional docksidepumpout of a holding tank and also permits overboard dumping of thecontents at sea and does not require any special tools for removing theplugs from the deck fitting.

Although i have herein shown and described my invention in what i haveconceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it isrecognized that departures may be made therefrom Within the scope of myinvention which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein butis to be recorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any andall equivalents, structures and systems.

What Is claimed is:

l. A fitting for mounting on a boat deck, said fitting being adapted tobe connected to a waste disposal system in the boat, comprising:

a body formed with first and second pairs of inlet and outlet ports,said outlet ports being above said inlet ports;

first and second plugs threaded into said first and second Outlet ports,respectively;

pivotable handle means on the top of said first plug adapted to beraised from a normal horizontal position to a vertical position tofacilitate threading and unthreading of said plug in its respectiveoutlet port;

a slot in the upper surface of said second plug; and

a lug on the bottom of said first plug engageable in said slot tofacilitate threading and unthreading of said second plug in itsrespective outlet port.

2. A fitting as set forth in claim 1 wherein:

said handle means comprises a pair of generally flat tabs mounted in arecess in the upper surface of said first plug in side-by-side relation;and

means mounting said tabs for pivotable movement about generallyhorizontally extending axes parallel and adjacent to the juxtaposedsides of said tabs.

3. A fitting as set forth in claim 1 including:

springmeans urging said tabs to said normal horizontal position.

4. A fitting as set forth in claim 1 wherein:

said body has a flat upper surface; and

the upper surface of said first and second plugs and said handle meansare flush with said flat upper surface. 4

5. A fitting as set forth in claim 1 wherein:

said first port islarger than said second port.

1. A fitting for mounting on a boat deck, said fitting being adapted tobe connected to a waste disposal system in the boat, comprising: a bodyformed with first and second pairs of inlet and outlet ports, saidoutlet ports being above said inlet ports; first and second plugsthreaded into said first and second outlet ports, respectively;pivotable handle means on the top of said first plug adapted to beraised from a normal horizontal position to a vertical position tofacilitate threading and unthreading of said plug in its respectiveoutlet port; a slot in the upper surface of said second plug; and a lugon the bottom of said first plug engageable in said slot to facilitatethreading and unthreading of said second plug in its respective outletport.
 1. A fitting for mounting on a boat deck, said fitting beingadapted to be connected to a waste disposal system in the boat,comprising: a body formed with first and second pairs of inlet andoutlet ports, said outlet ports being above said inlet ports; first andsecond plugs threaded into said first and second outlet ports,respectively; pivotable handle means on the top of said first plugadapted to be raised from a normal horizontal position to a verticalposition to facilitate threading and unthreading of said plug in itsrespective outlet port; a slot in the upper surface of said second plug;and a lug on the bottom of said first plug engageable in said slot tofacilitate threading and unthreading of said second plug in itsrespective outlet port.
 2. A fitting as set forth in claim 1 wherein:said handle means comprises a pair of generally flat tabs mounted in arecess in the upper surface of said first plug in side-by-side relation;and means mounting said tabs for pivotable movement about generallyhorizontally extending axes parallel and adjacent to the juxtaposedsides of said tabs.
 3. A fitting as set forth in claim 1 including:spring means urging said tabs to said normal horizontal position.
 4. Afitting as set forth in claim 1 wherein: said body has a flat uppersurface; and the upper surface of said first and second plugs and saidhandle means are flush with said flat upper surface.